Clinical elective and selective supervision

In addition to teaching in the core clerkships, faculty members can accept elective or selective students for clinical experiences lasting two weeks or more. The objectives may be determined by the faculty member or in dialogue between the student and the faculty member. Students on elective or selective are in their final year of the program.

Serving as a year 3 Integrated OSCE examiner

During the third-year clerkship, students are required to complete two integrated OSCE (iOSCE) examinations. The first takes place midway through the academic year in March, and the second at the end of the Clerkship year in August. The exam covers clinical skills pertinent to all of the clinical disciplines that students encounter during the Clerkship, and students must pass the iOSCE to complete their medical studies. Serving as an iOSCE examiner is therefore critically important to the students’ education, and a very good opportunity for teachers to understand the level of clinical competence achieved by the students.

Enriching Educational Experience (EEE) Preceptorships

The Enriching Educational Experiences (EEE) Program has been incorporated into the Foundations Curriculum as a component of ICE (Integrated Clinical Experience) for the 2T0 class. Enriching Educational Experiences are clinical placements organized for self-directed learning that allow students to explore different career options in different settings and with different preceptors. Enriching Educational Experiences may involve a range of activities based on the principles of delegated and graded responsibility. Some EEE activities are contained within Longitudinal Experiences (LEs) organized by various departments or student interest groups. The EEE Module within MedSIS can help students organize and carry out activities in ways that are fair and informed. Occupational insurance for unpaid clinical placements like EEE activities may depend on whether the activity is taken as part of the curriculum (ICE: EEE) or outside the curriculum.

All EEE activities must be logged with the EEE Program in MedSIS where students can also access a catalogue of past activities that can be used as a starting point for organizing experiences. The Module also contains important information for students and supervisors about how these activities are to be carried out, and information about insurance coverage.

Participating as a preceptor or mentor in the EEE program is an excellent option for faculty members who are unable to commit to core teaching but would like to be involved in the growth, development, and education of our future physicians.

Any faculty members with questions about the program or who wish to join the database are welcome to contact Dr. Jon Novick, Career Exploration Faculty Lead, at jon.novick@utoronto.ca.

U of T medical student observership experience with ICHA physicians

The Inner City Health Associates (ICHA) is a group of over 60 family physicians, internists and psychiatrists working in over 40 shelters and drop-in facilities across Toronto. ICHA provides primary, mental health and palliative care to those who do not otherwise have access to care. This organization serves people living on the street and in shelters as well as those who are precariously housed.

Each year, OHPSA works with ICHA to provide medical students (mainly those in preclerkship) with an opportunity to shadow ICHA physicians for a single half-day experience. This serves as an introduction to learning about the complex medical, social and financial challenges facing some of the most vulnerable members of our society. This experience will reinforce some of the learning objectives pertaining to the determinants of health taught in the Community, Populations and Public Health (CPPH) courses, and allow students to gain insight into the various agencies and organizations working with specific populations in Toronto.

Physicians will be directly responsible for supervision of observers as per the EEE program guidelines. Interested students should contact Ike Okafor Senior Officer, Service Learning and Diversity Outreach at ike.okafor@utoronto.ca.

Franco Doc shadowing experiences

OHPSA, along with the U of T Medicine Communauté Francaise (student group) and Réseau franco-santé du Sud de l’Ontario, are working together on the AFMC Franco Doc initiative to increase French usage amongst future physicians by organizing and supporting clinical and experiential activities in French and Bilingual environments.

Funding is available throughout the school year and summer to support shadowing and clinical rotations in French and Bilingual clinical settings. Interested students should contact Ike Okafor Senior Officer, Service Learning and Diversity Outreach at ike.okafor@utoronto.ca

Career mentorship and education

During the MD Program, students not only acquire the knowledge and skills required for the practice of medicine, but also engage in an ongoing process of career exploration. Faculty members can play a critical role in this process through various activities including mentorship, career talks, and special programs offered by some clinical departments in the Faculty of Medicine. To learn more about the options available to faculty members, please contact the Associate Dean Health Professions Student Affairs, the Academy Director associated with your hospital , Dr. Jon Novick, Career Exploration Faculty Lead, at jon.novick@utoronto.ca, or the course director/undergraduate program director of your Faculty of Medicine Department (see the Clerkship contact information).

Course committees

Every course in the MD Program has a course committee which is responsible for the design, implementation, and evaluation of the course. The committee generally consists of the course director, administrative staff, student representatives, and several faculty members. The faculty members on the committee are usually those responsible for a significant teaching unit in the course and/or for one of the sites where learning takes place during the course. Teachers who are already involved in a course and wish to explore the possibility of contributing further to the course’s organization are encouraged to contact the course director (see Foundations contact information or Clerkship contact information).

Leadership roles

There are many leadership roles in the MD Program, including being a course director, a site director within a course, or an organizer of a major segment or unit of a course. Teachers, particularly those already involved in a course, are encouraged to discuss leadership opportunities with either the relevant course director or the Foundations or Clerkship director (see Foundations contact information or Clerkship contact information).

Admissions file review and interviews

Every year, a large number of faculty members contribute their time and experience to the MD admissions process, helping to determine which of the thousands of applicants will be granted an interview and, of those, who will be offered a place in the next first-year class. Faculty members who are interested in participating in the admissions process as file reviewers and/or interviewers are encouraged to contact the UME Enrolment Services Offices at md.admissionsoffice@utoronto.ca.

Research

University of Toronto medical students have many different opportunities to learn about research, both during the regular curriculum and at other times, notably the two summers of the Preclerkship.

Learn about research as part of the curriculum:

Students receive a comprehensive introduction to health science research, both how it is conducted and how it is applied to the care of patients and communities during the Health Science Research component.

Research Outside the Curriculum: The major MD Program that supports funded research activity for medical students is called the Comprehensive Research Experience for Medical Students (CREMS). CREMS is a unique research program in Canada that allows interested U of T medical students to gain extracurricular research experience in any field in various structured programs without interrupting their medical studies. See http://md.utoronto.ca/research.

There are four main programs which involve University of Toronto faculty:

CREMS Research Scholar Program: A 20-month longitudinal program that runs from January of the student’s first year in the MD program to the end of August in the summer between second and third year, with full-time research during the summers. Student funding is divided equally between the CREMS program and the research supervisor. Faculty are encouraged to submit applications early so they can be posted online. See http://md.utoronto.ca/research-scholar-programs for more information and the application process.

CREMS Summer Program: A full-time 10-12-week summer research program between first- and second-year or between second- and third-year. Student funding is divided equally between the CREMS program and the research supervisor. See http://md.utoronto.ca/summer-research-programs for more information and the application process.

MAA CREMS International Health Summer Research Program: A 10-12-week international summer research program in which students participate in research related to important health issues in developing nations, conducted under the auspices of the on-going international work of a U of T faculty member. The program is run in partnership with the Medical Alumni Association, which provides the majority of the funding for this program. For more information, see: http://md.utoronto.ca/medical-alumni-association-crems-programs > see International Health

MAA-CREMS Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences: This 10-12 week summer program is for students who have a keen interest in the humanities or social sciences directly related to the field of medicine. Two students are selected each year with a preference for one student to do a project related to the history of medicine. Faculty do not have to be within the Faculty of Medicine. For more information see: http://md.utoronto.ca/medical-alumni-association-crems-programs > see Humanities and Social Sciences

The objectives of all of the CREMS programs are to allow medical students to explore and gain valuable research experiences, to prepare medical students for a career as a physician with a good research foundation and understanding of biomedical research, and to engage and encourage students to consider a career as a clinical scientist.

In addition to CREMS, many faculty members supervise medical student research organized through their hospital research institutes or similar organizations. Interested faculty members should contact their research institute administration for information on any programs that they support.

Faculty who are interested in either supervising medical student research through the CREMS program or in publicizing a non-CREMS research opportunity to medical students should contact the program director at crems.programs@utoronto.ca.

The land on which the MD Program operates has been a site of human activity for thousands of years. This land is the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, Seneca and most recently the Mississaugas of the New Credit. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant which is an agreement to peaceably share resources around the Great Lakes. Today Toronto is also home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, and on this important traditional territory and meeting place.